In music, a cadenza (Italian for cadence) is, generically, an improvised or written-out ornamental passage played or sung by a soloist or soloists, usually in a "free" rhythmic style, and often allowing for virtuosic display. (Randel 1986) // Music is an art form consisting of sound and silence expressed through time. ... In Western musical theory a cadence (Latin cadentia, a falling) is a particular series of intervals or chords that ends a phrase, section, or piece of music. ...

Cadenza often refers to a portion of a concerto in which the orchestra stops playing, leaving the soloist to play alone in free time (without a strict, regular pulse) and can be written or improvised, depending on what the composer specifies. This normally occurs near the end of the first movement, though it can be at any point in a concerto; an example is Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, where in the first five minutes a cadenza is used. It usually is the most elaborate part that the solo instrument plays during the whole piece. At the end of the cadenza, the orchestra re-enters, and generally finishes off the movement on their own, or, less often, with the solo instrument. The term concerto (plural concertos or concerti) usually refers to a musical work in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The term concerto (plural concertos or concerti) usually refers to a musical work in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra. ... Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr (Peter) Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильич Чайкoвский, Pëtr Il’ič ÄŒajkovskij;  )[1] (7 May [O.S. 25 April] 1840 – 6 November [O.S. 25 October] 1893), was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. ... Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskys Piano Concerto No. ...

The cadenza was originally, and remains, a vocal flourish improvised by a performer to elaborate a cadence in an aria. It was later used in instrumental music, and soon became a standard part of the concerto. Originally, it was improvised in this context as well, but during the 19th century, composers began to write cadenzas out in full. Third parties also wrote cadenzas for works in which it was intended by the composer to be improvised, so the soloist could have a well formed solo that they could practice in advance. Some of these have become so widely played and sung that they are effectively part of the standard repertoire, as is the case with Joseph Joachim's cadenza for Johannes Brahms' Violin Concerto, Beethoven's set of cadenzas for Mozart's Piano Concerto no. 20, and Estelle Liebling's edition of cadenzas for operas such as Donizetti's's La fille du Régiment and Lucia di Lammermoor. In Western musical theory a cadence (Latin cadentia, a falling) is a particular series of intervals or chords that ends a phrase, section, or piece of music. ... An aria (Italian for air; plural: arie or arias in common usage) in music was originally any expressive melody, usually, but not always, performed by a singer. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (June 28, 1831 – August 15, 1907) (pronounced YO-a-chim) was a violinist, conductor, composer and teacher. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Violin Concerto in D major by Johannes Brahms, his opus 77, is one of the best-known of all violin concertos. ... A portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820 Ludwig van Beethoven (IPA: ), (baptized December 17, 1770[1] – March 26, 1827) was a composer and one of the pillars of European classical music. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (IPA: , baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart) (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts Piano Concerto No. ... Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was a famous Italian opera composer. ... La fille du régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment) is a comic opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. ... Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico, or opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. ...

Nowadays, very few performers improvise their cadenzas, and very few composers have written concertos or vocal pieces within the last hundred years that include the possibility of an improvised cadenza.

Perhaps the most notable deviations from this tendency towards written (or absent) cadenzas are to be found in jazz, most often at the end of a ballad, though cadenzas in this genre are usually brief and somewhat immaterial. Saxophonist John Coltrane, however, usually improvised an extended, spell-binding candenza when performing "I Want To Talk About You", in which he showcased his predilections for scalar improvisation and multiphonics; the recorded examples (see "Coltrane Live At Birdland" and "Afro Blue Impressions"-- both live recordings) of Coltrane's "I Want To Talk About You" are approximately 8-minutes in length, with Coltrane's unaccompanied cadenza taking up approximately 3-minutes. More sardonically, Jazz critic Martin Williams once described Coltrane's improvisations on "Africa/Brass" as "essentially extended cadenzas to pieces that never get played."[1] Equally noteworthy is saxophonist Sonny Rollins' shorter improvised cadenza at the close of "Three Little Words" (from his album "Sonny Rollins on Impulse!"). This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... In jazz and popular music, the term ballad denotes a short song in a slow tempo, usually with a romantic or sentimental text, though the term is also used for instrumental pieces. ...

Cadenzas are also found in instrumental solos with piano or other accompaniment, where they are placed near the beginning or near the end or sometimes in both places. (e.g. "The Maid of the Mist," cornet solo by Herbert L. Clarke, or a more modern example: the end of "Think of Me" where Christine Daaè sings a short but involved cadenza, in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera.) Herbert L. Clarke Herbert Lincoln Clarke (September 12, 1867–January 30, 1945) was a noted cornet player, bandmaster, and composer. ... Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is a highly successful English composer of musical theatre, and also the elder brother of Julian Lloyd Webber. ... This article is about the Gaston Leroux novel. ...

Notable examples of Cadenzas

• Concertos are not the only pieces that feature cadenzas; Scena di Canta Gitano, the fourth movement of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio espagnol, contains cadenzas for violin, harp, clarinet, and flute in its beginning section.
• Rachmaninov's Third Piano Concerto, in which the first movement features a long and difficult toccata-like cadenza with an optional or ossia cadenza written in a heavier chordal style.
• The first movement of Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor. It is a long and impassioned cadenza which ends with the orchestra and piano playing together in a dramatic and rousing finale.
• The end of the first movement of Bach's fifth Brandenburg Concerto features a harpsichord solo.
• Kreisler's cadenzas for the first and third movements of Beethoven's Violin Concerto.
• Carl Baermann's cadenza for the second movement of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto.
• Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto begins with three short cadenzas. These are notable because the composer specifies that the soloist should play the music that is written out in the score, and not improvise his own.
• Beethoven famously included a cadenza for oboe in the recapitulation section of the first movement of his Symphony No. 5.
• Aaron Copland: Clarinet Concerto to connect the two movements.

Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: , Nikolaj Andreevič Rimskij-Korsakov), also Nikolay, Nicolai, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, (March 6 (N.S. March 18), 1844 – June 8 (N.S. June 21) 1908) was a Russian composer, one of five Russian composers known as The Five, and was later a... Capriccio espagnol, Op. ... The violin is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. ... The harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. ... Two soprano clarinets: a Bâ™­ clarinet (left, with capped mouthpiece) and an A clarinet (right, with no mouthpiece). ... The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Russian: , Sergej Vasilevič Rakhmaninov, 1 April 1873 (N.S.) or 20 March 1873 (O.S.) – 28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor, one of the last great champions of the Romantic style of European classical music. ... The beginning of the opening theme of the The Piano Concerto No. ... Ossia is a musical term for an alternate passage which may be played instead of the original passage. ... Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg (15 June 1843 – 4 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist who composed in the romantic period. ... The Piano Concerto in A minor by Edvard Grieg was the only concerto Grieg completed. ... In music, the BACH motif is the sequence of notes B flat, A, C, B natural. ... Johann Sebastian Bach, c. ... Fritz Kreisler (circa 1938) Fritz Kreisler (February 2, 1875 – January 29, 1962) was an Austrian (later American) violinist and composer, one of the most famous violinists of his day. ... Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptized December 17, 1770 – March 26, 1827) was a German composer of Classical music, the predominant musical figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was one of the most significant and influential of all composers of Western classical music. ... A portrait by Joseph Karl Stieler, 1820 Ludwig van Beethoven (IPA: ), (baptized December 17, 1770[1] – March 26, 1827) was a composer and one of the pillars of European classical music. ... Ludwig van Beethovens Piano Concerto No. ... The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. ... In music theory, the recapitulation is the third major section of a movement written in sonata form. ... The coversheet to Beethovens 5th Symphony. ... Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (November 14, 1900 – December 2, 1990) was an American composer of concert and film music, as well as an accomplished pianist. ...

Composed cadenzas

Composers who have written cadenzas for other performers in works not their own include:

• Benjamin Britten: Haydn's Cello Concerto in C, for Mistislav Rostropovich.
• Karlheinz Stockhausen: various Mozart concerti for wind instruments, for his children.

Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH (November 22, 1913 Lowestoft, Suffolk - December 4, 1976 Aldeburgh, Suffolk) was a British composer, conductor, and pianist. ... Karlheinz Stockhausen (born August 22, 1928) is a German composer, and one of the most important and controversial composers of the 20th century. ...

References and further reading

• Badura-Skoda, Eva, et al. "Cadenza". Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (subscription required). Accessed 2007-04-06.
• Randel, Don (1986). The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-61525-5